CLEARING THE SLATE PART TWO: BRUTALITY

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Dec 092025
 

(This is the second Part of what projects to be four record-review collections by DGR — collections of multiple reviews that are shorter by his standards than what you usually see from him — all of them intended to clear his slate in preparation for year-end lists to come.)

Part Two of this completely out of control yet still well-intentioned slate clearing comes to us as the result of yours truly realizing that a lot of his review collective consisted of some pretty overwhelming death metal albums.

On top of this, there’s still more but they’re being shuffled around as best I can because even then there were still one or two “surprise motherfucker!” late additions to the list that, in this case, served as good balance to the meteor impact albums that otherwise comprise this fucking monster of a collection. Knuckle dragging and neck snapping walk hand in hand among this collection, save for one surprisingly introspective battering in the middle, and it only clears the way for an even more steady pile of music to follow… and we haven’t even descended into the year end list depravity yet.

Send help. Continue reading »

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Jun 062023
 

(Andy Synn presents four artists/albums from last month that you may not have checked out)

The list of bands I wasn’t able to write about in May is pretty impressive. And imposing. And, ultimately, a little disappointing.

But, the truth is, there’s only so much time in the day/week/month, which is why I wasn’t able to cover… deep breath… Concilium, Black:I, Olkoth (though we did already premiere a track from this one), Non Est Deus, Usnea, Phlebotomized, Vexing, Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean (that one I really wanted to include) and more.

Still, the four albums I’ve chosen for this article are all ones I feel very strongly about, and are well worth your time, so let’s focus on them, rather than what I wasn’t able to get to!

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BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS: “NIGHTMARE WITHDRAWALS”

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Mar 012021
 

 

(We present Todd Manning‘s review of the new third album by the New Zealand band Blindfolded and Led to the Woods, which is set for release on March 26th.)

At first glance, one might mistake a band named Blindfolded and Led to the Woods for a brutal, slam-inspired Death Metal group, but while this New Zealand-based quintet is certainly Death Metal, their take on the genre is much more nuanced and complex than their aforementioned brethren.

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods construct a sound based on the dissonance of Gorguts combined with the technical Death-Grind assault of Cephalic Carnage. While they may not be alone in drawing on such influences, what truly sets them apart is their focus on the details of their sound. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS — “LICKING A LANDMINE”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Aug 032017
 

 

There’s a particular alignment of talents on display in the song you’re about to hear, and the successful execution of a strategy that usually attracts fans of metal extremity like iron filings to a magnet, but seems to repel (or at least mystify) more tender listeners: “Licking A Landmine” combines a staggering level of brute-force destructiveness with a brain-twisting brand of freakishness, and yet it manages to be catchy. At least to people like us, even after this landmine goes off and converts the listener’s head to smoking rubble, you want to lick it again.

“Licking A Landmine” is a track from Modern Adoxography, the second album by New Zealand’s Blindfolded And Led To The Woods. It’s set for release on Friday the 13th of October, timed to closely precede the band’s performances in Wellington on October 24th and Auckland on October 25th in support of the final New Zealand tour by The Dillinger Escape Plan. Continue reading »